Porta del Loco - PHOTOGRAPHER COMMENT

Porta del Loco - FURTHER INFORMATION

Porta del Loco - San Marino City visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Porta del Loco' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Città di San Marino.

Porta del Loco, also known as 'Porta San Francesco' (St Francis Gate), was built as part of the defences of San Marino City in 1361. The arch-gate is surmounted by tower and battlements. In the Porta there is still a plaque warning travellers not to bring weapons into the town under threat of severe punishment.

San Marino was at one point protected by three city walls and towers. The first and earliest, was built in the 11th century and included Guaita tower. This had a reputation of being impregnable and protected San Marino city from attack for some time. During the Crusades of the 13th and 14th centuries, a second wall and Cesta tower was built. The wall dates from 1550 and was built by Belluzzi. Along with this was built Montale tower. This is the smallest of the cities towers and stands on top of Monte Titano.

Both Guaita and Cesta are open to the public, while Montale is closed. The towers and walls form some of the tourist attractions in San Marino City. The historic city center, including these Medieval defences, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, which has boosted tourism.

TRAVEL DIRECTIONS AND GETTING THERE

Car: San Marino is about 25km west of Rimini on the S572 road. It is 55km from Cesena and 135km south of Bologna.Flight: Borgo Maggiore Heilport, Federico Fellini International Airport in Rimini.